Culture diary: April 2012

Ahead of the Olympic summer, the nation’s screens, stages, museums and
galleries are playing host to an extraordinary cultural bonanza. From ballet
to blockbusters, Mozart to Marley, our critics select the very best of a
bumper season.

This big-budget adaptation of George R R Martin’s epic fantasy books is not just one for the nerds – produced by acclaimed US network HBO, the first series scored record ratings for Sky Atlantic. Now it’s back for a second helping.

POP

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Former drummer with the Felice Brothers and leader of folk-soul outfit the Duke & the King, Simone Felice’s self-titled solo debut is set to affirm his place as the most lyrically complex and emotionally assured of the new singer-songwriters. He’s also touring intimate venues around the UK and Ireland throughout the month.

Eugene O’Neill’s harrowing autobiographical masterpiece about his troubled family receives a major West End revival starring the great David Suchet, American actress Laurie Metcalf and fast-rising Kyle Soller.

Apollo Theatre, London W1 (0844 412 4658), until Aug 18

DANCE

ENB2: My First Sleeping Beauty

One of the most dependable classical dance-makers around, Matthew Hart has made a new version of the celebrated fairy tale aimed specially at young children, here performed by English National Ballet’s new, youthful offshoot, ENB2.

Peacock Theatre, London WC2 (0844 412 4322), until April 13, then tours; ballet.org.uk

BOOKS

Pottermore launch

Huzzah! Harry Potter fans, who were promised J K Rowling’s online extension of her books last October, can rejoice – the site is finally set to magic its way onto computer screens in early April (exact date tbc). Get ready for the Sorting Hat…

APRIL 4

EXHIBITIONS

Damien Hirst

It’s now de rigueur to knock the recent work of the ringleader of Young British Art – will the first substantial survey of his career in a major British institution change people’s minds?

Tate Modern, London SE1 (020 7887 8888), until Sept 9

APRIL 5

DANCE

Royal Ballet: Popdancefashion

New pieces by Wayne McGregor and wunderkind Liam Scarlett, plus Christopher Wheeldon’s celebrated Polyphonia, all in a single evening? With this bill you are really spoiling us.

Royal Opera House, London WC2 (020 7304 4000), in rep until April 23

APRIL 6

FILM

Mirror Mirror (PG)

The first in an apparently endless string of fairy-tale blockbusters Hollywood has in store is Tarsem Singh’s extravagantly loopy take on the Snow White story. Julia Roberts stars as the haughty and pompous, rather than truly wicked, Queen.

For the centrepiece of Radio 4’s Shakespeare season, British Museum Director Neil MacGregor imagines the world of Elizabethan playgoers through studying a different historical relic from the period in each of the 20 episodes.

FILM

Titanic 3D (12A)

After a six-month conversion process, James Cameron’s ocean-going epic is ready to set sail again, with eight extra minutes of footage and one extra dimension on board. The re-release coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the liner’s famous demise.

APRIL 7

COMEDY

Rich Hall

It’s always good to see Hall on the road. He brings an asperity to his observations (and songs too) about Britain and America that masks an affection for both. When you’re in his company, it’s like being with a groovy-grouchy uncle who has been around the block long enough not to feed you any baloney.

Your new favourite American rock band release their debut album, Boys & Girls. Led by former postwoman Brittany Howard, who possesses a classic country-soul voice, the band seriously rock and take no prisoners, as their UK tour should show.

The first official entrant in the 2012 summer blockbuster season pits the US Navy, led by Liam Neeson, against alien hordes. Somewhat implausibly, Peter Berg’s film is based on the popular strategy game of the same name: let’s hope they’ve added some plot.

APRIL 13

THEATRE

The Way of the World

Penelope Keith stars as Lady Wishfort in Congreve’s brilliant Restoration comedy about the possibility of having a happy marriage in a back-stabbing world.

Chichester Festival Theatre, (01243 781312), until May 5

FILM

Marley (15)

Kevin Macdonald’s appropriately laid-back documentary about the Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley is being positioned as this year’s Senna: a fascinating, in-depth character study regardless of whether you have a prior interest in the man or his music.

FILM

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (PG)

Paul Torday’s novel about a romance that blossoms on an eccentric environmental project comes to cinemas courtesy of the Oscar-winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and the one-time ABBA music video director Lasse Hallström. Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt co-star.

APRIL 14

POP

Lauryn Hill

You can never be quite sure what you will get with the notoriously flaky Ms Hill but it is good to have her back. Her headlining set at London’s IndigO2 will be her first British gig in five years, a rare chance to recall the groundbreaking joys of her 1998 debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and hear material from her long-delayed new album, The Return.

Barenboim takes on the titanic feat of conducting Bruckner’s last three symphonies and playing two Mozart piano concertos with the Staatskapelle Berlin.

Royal Festival Hall, London SE1 (0844 847 9915), also April 17 and 20

APRIL 17

OPERA

Jakob Lenz

German modernist Wolfgang Rihm’s short but painfully intense music drama inspired by the mental disintegration of an 18th-century poet is presented by English National Opera in a new production directed by Sam Brown, with Andrew Shore in the demanding title role.

Anna Chancellor and Nicholas Farrell lead this superb double bill of one-act plays by Terence Rattigan and David Hare, both set in English public schools.

Harold Pinter Theatre, London SW1 (0844 871 7627)

DANCE

Royal Ballet Flanders

The visiting Dutch company dances Artifact, William Forsythe’s seminal postmodern work from 1984, featuring music by Bach and – in all probability – very sleek performances.

Sadler’s Wells, London EC1 (0844 412 4300), until April 21

THEATRE

Top Hat

The irresistible Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie taps into town in a stage production featuring Tom Chambers, Summer Strallen, and a host of great Irving Berlin numbers.

Aldwych Theatre, London WC2 (0844 847 2330)

APRIL 20

OPERA

OperaShots

Minimalist Graham Fitkin and the witty, dandiacal Neil Hannon of the eccentric rock band the Divine Comedy are two composers selected left-field by ROH2 to compose their first operas. Expect surprises and a fine disregard for the rules.

Glasgow has produced a disproportionate number of Turner Prize winners in recent years; this biennial 18-day festival showcasing the output of the city’s robust contemporary art community will doubtless contain some winners of tomorrow.

Produced by Steve Coogan and co-written by Peep Show’s Matt King, Sky’s new sitcom about a chaotic working class family in Derbyshire has British comedy pedigree. King stars alongside Brendan Coyle and Lesley Sharp.

Sky1, exact date tbc

DANCE

Royal Ballet: La Fille mal gardée

Frederick Ashton’s sexy, sun-dappled joy is one of the greatest romantic comedies ever created in any medium.

Royal Opera House, London WC2 (020 7304 4000), in rep until May 16

CLASSICAL MUSIC

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

The disturbed mental world of an incarcerated woman is the subject of Simon Holt’s The Yellow Wallpaper. It’s premiered at this concert, alongside Mahler’s Fourth Symphony.

St David’s Hall Cardiff (0800 052 1812)

APRIL 23

POP

Jack White

The multi-instrumentalist from Detroit led the revival of roots rock in the 21st century with the White Stripes, the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather. His official solo debut, Blunderbuss, threatens to surpass them all. Live dates follow in June.

Album released on White’s own Third Man label via XL

APRIL 26

OPERA

The Importance of Being Earnest

A concert performance by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group of Irish composer Gerald Barry’s new adaptation of the classic drawing-room comedy which promises a high camp slant on Oscar Wilde’s Victorian wit.

For its UK release, the ensemble superhero blockbuster formerly known as The Avengers has been lumbered with a title that’s even clumsier than the Incredible Hulk. Presumably this is so British audiences don’t expect to see John Steed fighting alongside Iron Man and chums.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Academy of Ancient Music

The AAM likes to offer a complete picture of a key musical moment. Here it’s the “dawn of the cantata”.

Wigmore Hall, London W1 (020 7935 2141)

APRIL 27

FILM

Being Elmo

Following the wildly successful return of The Muppets is this lower-key but equally touching documentary about Kevin Clash, the unlikely creator of the furry red Sesame Street favourite. Pack plenty of tissues: the trailer alone is a tear-jerker.

THEATRE

The Sunshine Boys

Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths star in Neil Simon’s comedy about the reunion of a pair of crotchety vaudeville artists who haven’t spoken to each other for years. Will they be able to eclipse fond memories of Walter Matthau and George Burns in the movie?

Savoy Theatre, London WC2 (0844 871 7687)

FILM

Albert Nobbs (15)

This Glenn Close passion project, in which she plays a 19th-century Irishwoman who lives as a man in order to find work, has secured a British release date after receiving a flurry of attention during awards season, including an Oscar nomination for Close.

APRIL 30

OPERA

La bohème

An exciting cast lights up the umpteenth revival of John Copley’s classic production, conducted by the excellent Semyon Bychkov. Anja Harteros and Joseph Calleja sing everyone’s favourite operatic lovers Mimi and Rodolfo, with the hotly tipped young Italian baritone Fabio Capitanucci as Marcello.